


Lemon boy

by minyardmonster



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Mixtape, I suck at dialogue, M/M, aftg, andrew does soft things but theyre disguised as mean, andrew expereinces emotions, frankly this kind of got away from me, hes actually a softie okay, neil is still learning to read andrew but thats okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29073816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minyardmonster/pseuds/minyardmonster
Summary: “It’s not your fault we lost, you know.” Neil said softly. “I don’t think it’s your fault we lost.”“I never said I thought that, junkie.”Neil rolled his eyes and left his palm face up on the bed between them, an offering if Andrew decided he needed it. Hesitantly, Andrew reached his own hand out, interlocking their fingers.-things i googled while writing this; are dandelions weeds?I know that isn't how eidetic memories work, I have one, let me just pretend okay-AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021Song: Lemon Boy by CavetownI hope you enjoy your fic <3
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 119
Collections: AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021





	Lemon boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [melopeya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/melopeya/gifts).



> AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021  
> Song: Lemon Boy by Cavetown  
> I hope you enjoy your fic <3

Neil had never understood why everyone described Andrew as aggressive or stand offish-or, well, he  _ did,  _ but he didn’t understand why they thought that was the defining quality of him. Andrew had a habit of inserting himself into people's lives and staying there. The upperclassman often referred to him as  _ weed _ when he did this, but Neil had never seen the issue with it. Andrew was loyal to the people he cared about-and if that made Andrew a weed, well, Neil had always found Dandelions quite beautiful anyway. 

Neil sometimes worried Andrew took the things the people around them said to heart, but if he did, he showed no outward signs of being bothered by it. And it wasn’t that the cruel comments acted as incentive for Neil to spend more time with Andrew-he’d do that happily any day, but they definitely pushed him to spend even  _ more  _ time with the blonde. He was an expert in reading Andrew Minyard, a skill carefully curated over the years, and all he wanted was to shake the rest of their friends and show them how  _ wrong  _ they were, if only they would take a minute to actually learn something about their goalie.

They did notice things, of course, just not the things Neil would have liked them too. Allison of all people had cornered him one night after practise and had accused him of being  _ bittersweet,  _ whatever that meant, as of late. That Andrew’s sour attitude was starting to rub off on him, and maybe he should quit while he was ahead, lest he become co-dependent.

_ Whatever,  _ Neil thought as he stripped off the rest of his training gear.  _ Citrus fruits taste better, anyway. _

It didn’t take long for Neil to realise that it wasn’t just Andrew’s sour attitude that he liked. The more time he spent with the upperclass men on Matt’s request, the more suffocating he found them. They were nice to him in a way he’d never learnt to understand, and he didn’t know what to do with the kindness they showed him. He dealt with Andrew’s apathetic honesty and straightforwardness infinitely better, preferred the twitch of his eyebrow to the beaming smiles Renee would give him. It felt  _ safer,  _ and more real. Andrew and Neil weren’t made of the same sour stuff, but it was close enough that building a home in one another came easily and felt steady.

Andrew may have always  _ appeared  _ sour, but there was almost always an underlying sweetness to his actions. 

A great example of this, Neil thought, was when Aaron had worked himself into such a state over an upcoming exam he was convinced his hair was falling out. Andrew had less than kindly (threatened. He had threatened Aaron) told his brother to “Shut the fuck up and go to sleep, because what’s the use of sitting here tearing your hair out if you’re just going to pass out from exhaustion tomorrow?”

He’d not reminded Aaron to set his alarm, and consequently he’d slept through the exam. He’d been livid about it for days, and refused to to speak with his brother, until Neil had clued in to the tension and informed his lesser preferred Minyard that Andrew had in fact stayed up reading over Aaron’s textbooks and instead sat the exam for him. Andrew never cared for the repercussions of his actions, good or bad. The sureness of himself was something Neil had always admired. 

Of course, there were days where even Neil didn’t know how to read Andrew or how to comfort him. There were days where Neil wasn’t sure Andrew even  _ cared  _ if he hurt Neil or not. It had been a particularly hard loss, a game hard fought against the Jackals but not hard won, and everyone was on edge. Andrew himself was worn too thin from too much time spent in the goal, and he was in and out of the change rooms faster than normal--not waiting on Neil like he normally would have. He sat in the back of the bus back, and ignored all of Neil’s attempts at conversation. And when they’d arrived back at Palmetto he’d taken himself right back to the dorms and crawled into his top bunk without a word to anyone. 

Usually when Andrew became withdrawn, Neil still had a vague idea of what he could do to help, even if that was just crawling up into the bunk with him, back turned to the outside world saying  _ you’re safe with me, no one will hurt you  _ or sitting on the far side of the room quietly studying, offering nothing more than the comforting weight of his familiar presence. This wasn’t like that, though, and honestly Neil was surprised hadn’t just locked them out (something he had done before) with all the door slamming he was doing.

“Andrew?” Neil asked, poking his head into the shared bedroom. There was no follow up question, either Andrew would tell him what was wrong or he wouldn’t. He would let Neil in, or he wouldn’t. Straight forward, simple. There was no response from Andrew other than a grunt of confirmation, but his eyes remained shut and the hard, stiff line of his shoulders stayed pressed against the cold wall. Neil, honestly, didn’t know what to do with that, and instead sighed softly. “Okay, well. Matt and Dan want to get take out. Text me if you need me, I guess.”

Neil shut the door behind him and shrugged on one of Andrew’s threadbare sweaters that was lying around the common space before meeting Matt and Dan out in the hallway. He mostly listened to their idle chatter as they walked down to one of the few dine in/take away joints near campus, head distracted with thoughts of Andrew.

“It’s not just me though, right Neil?” Matt asked, pulling Neil’s attention away from his own thoughts. “I never thought I’d see the day Andrew would be upset about losing a game.”

“Yeah,” Dan agreed, laughing lightly and tucking her chin into her scarf. “I was beginning to think he took joy in team failure.”

Neil wouldn’t say he  _ agreed  _ with that, but he did also find it abnormal that Andrew would feel anything other than indifferent about a games turn out, may that be a win or otherwise, he only engaged in the sport to maintain Aaron, Nicky and his positions at the school. Neil opened his mouth to say just that when Dan continued on;

“Didn’t he say he was going to shut the down goal for you, Neil? I know you were stressed about the game.”

And oh.  _ Oh.  _ It makes sense now, why Andrew had seemed so dejected. Promises were something he valued above all else, and if he’d felt like he’d broken one--even on such a meager level, well.

“I’ve got to go.” Neil said in a rush, not bothering to explain himself before heading back towards the dorms. 

Andrew was exactly where Neil had left him, still curled onto his side and staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Neil made sure Andrew could see him approach and climbed up the ladder to the top bunk slowly, leaning half onto the bed so as to not overwhelm his boyfriend.

“It’s not your fault we lost, you know.” Neil said softly. “ _ I  _ don’t think it’s your fault we lost.”

“I never said I thought that, junkie.” 

Neil rolled his eyes and left his palm face up on the bed between them, an offering if Andrew decided he needed it.Hestiently, Andrew reached his own hand out, interlocking their fingers.

“You’re just one person, it’s not fair that I ask you to act like something else. That I make you  _ promise. _ ” And it was true. Neil would be captain next year when Dan graduated, and he had to learn to expect the same from the entirety of his team. He wouldn’t be able to lean on Andrew forever.

Andrew just grunted and pulled Neil’s arm closer, encouraging the taller boy to come lay down fully on the bed with him. Neil settled in with his back to the room and facing Andrew, eyes roaming over him. They were silent for a while, Neil was good at this, letting Andrew take things at his own pace. He would talk when he was ready, he knew there was no need to hide behind a harsh exterior with Neil.

“When we play together, on the same team, you will not have to worry about me letting you down.” Andrew speaks slowly, but surely, a tone that leaves no room for argument on Neil’s end. 

Neil nods, taking it as the unspoken promise it is; that Neil would be able to lean on him forever-that there was going to be a forever that involved the both of them, both inside and out of Exy. 

Perhaps Andrew would always appear outwardly sour and mean, but in the end, Neil was not much better. They were the same in many ways, and while they were still learning to read one another, no one read them better then they did.

Neil thought we quite liked the idea of the two of them getting around forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Look yeah I'm not good at endings, but I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
